"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

dittybopper:"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

dittybopper:"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

Heh. That's funny.

Maybe I should try putting a metal garbage can over my neighbors pool filter.

Anthracite:Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Yes to both, but it has more to do with the thousands of artillery in NK pointed at Seoul. And if that is somehow avoided, then there are the practical considerations of managing 24.5 million people, most of them starving. Nobody wants to have to deal with all that.

Arkanaut:I wonder -- with all the Linux- / Mozilla-based stuff, how long before somebody cracks their security measures?

It doesn't matter if it's Linux or Mozilla-based stuff, I'm sure that's already happened. There's just no telling how widespread it may be by now. There was an article a few yrs. ago here about how some had just discovered The Sound of Music. It was one of the few western movies approved for the public to watch. By now, who knows how far they may have come.

dittybopper:"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

I didn't realize DPNK had its own Juche calendar. That's wild. Especially because it means Kim Jong Il died near the end of Juche 100. That seems to line up unexpectedly well with such a large, round number.

Anthracite:Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

flux:I didn't realize DPNK had its own Juche calendar. That's wild. Especially because it means Kim Jong Il died near the end of Juche 100. That seems to line up unexpectedly well with such a large, round number.

Considering how large and round the Kims are, I find a certain symmetry to that.

Anthracite:Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

The short answer is that South Korea can't afford it. You are essentially talking about reintegrating 24 million people into the 20th century. South korea already spends a fortune reintegrating escapees from Best Korea. They apparently have a walled compound where they provide, medical, dental, career counselling, financial counselling,manners/social integration, (apparently people from the Best Korean have abysmal manners, by our standards) etc. All at the cost to the south Korean people.

The comparison is made to the reintegration of East Germany which was far easier than Best Korea. These people are light years behind the times.

Put Escape from Prison Camp #14 on your Christmas list, it is enlightening. I've always wondered why we fark with Iraq/Iran/etc when Best Korea is clearly the biggest oppressors of their own people on the planet.

JesusJuice:Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

JesusJuice:Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

dittybopper:"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

Heh. That's funny.

Geez no wonder the world hates your country (I just assume you're American).He lived in a paranoid, horrific, Orwellian nightmare, and you think it was mildly amusing the lengths he thought had to go to, to make a phone call?

sure haven't:dittybopper: "In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

Heh. That's funny.

Geez no wonder the world hates your country (I just assume you're American).He lived in a paranoid, horrific, Orwellian nightmare, and you think it was mildly amusing the lengths he thought had to go to, to make a phone call?

sure haven't:dittybopper: "In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

Heh. That's funny.

Geez no wonder the world hates your country (I just assume you're American).He lived in a paranoid, horrific, Orwellian nightmare, and you think it was mildly amusing the lengths he thought had to go to, to make a phone call?

JesusJuice:Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

pastorkius:JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

D1551D3N7:pastorkius: JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

Insatiable Jesus:How is that any different than what we will have once the Global Corporate Socialists get all of the internet laws they are trying to buy with dump trucks full of cash?

JesusJuice:Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

pastorkius:JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

I was actually thinking of having a revolution. If they're not willing to die to be free, why should anyone else?

I would be interested in hearing from a German regarding the reunification of a country divided in this manner.And after doing a GIS for "cute German girl" thinking I would make a joke, I am no longer interested in this thread.

JesusJuice:pastorkius: JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

I was actually thinking of having a revolution. If they're not willing to die to be free, why should anyone else?

Their "government"(wardens) basically tells them "You think you have it hard, you should be glad you are not in the rest of the world. This is a paradise by comparison."

JesusJuice:pastorkius: JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

I was actually thinking of having a revolution. If they're not willing to die to be free, why should anyone else?

PLus, it's hard to revolt when you have no way of organizing, or have the energy to do so since most of your time is scavenging for grass and tree bark to make soup. If they even had an idea their was revolt in the air, the real or perceived organizers would be sent to the gulags or killed in public to set an example.

Anthracite:Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

It would be a disaster, there is so much propaganda that the population is essentially brain washed. How about freeing the people fighting for it first, once those people are free maybe the Best Koreans will ant it too.

There is a documentary that got into the country with some surgeons that were removing cataracts (or something else with the eye). They did hundreds of surgeries and then had an 'unveiling' the next day. With the surgeons right there the people would basically start thanking their 'Dear Leader' like he made them see again himself.

Its function is straightforward but important. Whenever leader Kim Jong-un is mentioned, his name is automatically displayed ever so slightly bigger than the text around it. Not by much, but just enough to make it stand out.

See, this is why my money is on this extremely detail-oriented regime, hateful though it is. All the United States' sanctions get us is more hungry people angry at us. Meanwhile, in just a few lines of code, they're making people love them without even knowing why.

semiotix:Its function is straightforward but important. Whenever leader Kim Jong-un is mentioned, his name is automatically displayed ever so slightly bigger than the text around it. Not by much, but just enough to make it stand out.

See, this is why my money is on this extremely detail-oriented regime, hateful though it is. All the United States' sanctions get us is more hungry people angry at us. Meanwhile, in just a few lines of code, they're making people love them without even knowing why.

JesusJuice:Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Anthracite:Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

I have read that the reason China is chummy with NK is because they don't want to be responsible for looking after the people if NK collapses. Remember what happened when the Berlin Wall came down? Millions of economic refugees flooded the west.Same thing would happen - all the NKs who have Chinese relatives would head to China, all those with SK relatives would head to SK, and the rest would flee to Russia.None of these countries want this, so maintain the status quo and hope the crazy nutjob doesn't launch any nukes.China is actually a good influence - they send trainloads of food and resources to NK and in return they can keep the lid on the unstable spoiled brat.I'm sure there have been times he's said "Right, that's it, I'm launching a nuke" and China has said "Er, don't do that".Lobbing the odd non-nuke missile out to sea keeps Kim happy and causes little collateral damage. Yeah, I know some innocent people have been killed, but the alternative is worse.IMHO.

dittybopper:"In order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who left the country in November 2010.

Heh. That's funny.

Actually, it's pretty sad. It provides a pretty concise summary of both the fear and ignorance prevalent in that society. To most of us, it's pretty obvious that, if he had adequately masked his signal, he would have been unable to make calls because the signal would be blocked. Contrariwise, if he was able to make calls, his signal was getting through and could, therefore, could certainly be tracked by Best Korean authorities if they were of a mind to do so. He doesn't have even the most basic concept of how wireless communication works.

JesusJuice:pastorkius: JesusJuice: Anthracite: Why don't we go over and free them ? just asking...does it have to do with China or Russia?

Why should we risk the lives of our citizens in order to give freedom to a people obviously don't want it? You get the leaders you deserve, and the North Koreans must be some pretty shiatty people to deserve the Kims.

Yeah, why don't they just vote out their single party dictatorial government?

I was actually thinking of having a revolution. If they're not willing to die to be free, why should anyone else?

They have no idea what conditions are like outside of North Korea. They have been brainwashed into believing that they're living standards are better than everywhere else. Without any contact with the outside world, combined with their god like worship of their chubby dictator they have no reason to doubt it.